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Trail more traveled • Descendants of M. Kenneth White, a man who earned his fortune in post-World War II real estate development, have presented Salt Lake Valley residents with a generous gift. The family donated almost 18 acres of land around the base of Grandeur Peak just south of Parleys Canyon to Salt Lake County. The donation of three land parcels just above houses high on the east bench near 3300 South will allow the county to extend the Bonneville Shoreline Trail a third of a mile. The section will become part of a contiguous hiking and biking path between Parleys and Mill Creek canyons and eventually from Box Elder to Juab counties. The trail has long been part of a vision for the future of outdoor recreation in the valley, and this donation brings the dream closer to reality.

Schedule debates • Sen. Orrin Hatch is content to run his re-election campaign at a great distance from his opponent, Democrat Scott Howell. Hatch was a no-show at debates during his primary run against fellow Republican Dan Liljenquist, and he won that contest handily. So Hatch sees no reason to change this strategy. But there is a reason he should accept Howell's invitations to discuss the issues with him face to face: Utah voters deserve to see and hear the candidates air their differences up close. The Hatch camp says there is plenty of time for debates before Nov. 6. That is true, but it won't be true much longer. Hatch should agree to several debates well before voters have to make up their minds. Hatch thought that would be fair when he was trying to unseat an incumbent 36 years ago. He was right then, and fair is still fair.

Raising the Barr •It seems Rocky Anderson isn't getting any love in "alternative" politics. In fact, the California Peace and Freedom party really hit the former Salt Lake City mayor below the belt when it nominated comedian Roseanne Barr as its candidate for president. And that was after Anderson received 43 percent of the vote in the party's non-binding primary. Anderson hoped to use the party nomination as a platform for his Justice Party to argue against the current national political system, which he says is corrupt. True to form, he blasted the California party's move as a rigged back room deal and withdrew his name. But that means he won't have a spot on the November ballot there, although his name will appear on the ballots of 14 other states. Although we credit Anderson with sincerity in his national campaign, there is poetic justice in his being "out-shrilled" by Barr, as a University of Utah professor put it.